Gulf Oil Platform Explosion and Spill

Here isa rush transcript of the interview with the EPA whistleblower provided by Democracy NOW!

SHARIF ADBEL KOUDDOUS: The Obama administration has given BP the go-ahead to keep its ruptured well sealed for another day despite worries about the well leaking some oil and methane gas. National Incident Commander Thad Allen said the seep was not cause for alarm.

Meanwhile, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has released its analysis of BP’s data on the exposure of cleanup workers to the chemical dispersants being used in the Gulf. OSHA chief David Michaels told the environmental website Greenwire that, quote, “I think you can say exposures are low for workers. Exposures of workers on shore are virtually nonexistent. There are significant exposures near the source, and that’s to be expected given the work being done there.

Those workers are given respiratory protection,” he said.But with BP having poured nearly two million gallons of the dispersant known as Corexit into the Gulf, many lawmakers and advocacy groups say the Obama administration is not being candid about the lethaleffects of dispersants. At a Senate subcommittee hearing last week,

Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski grilled administrators from the EPA about Corexit and said she didn’t want dispersants to be the Agent Orange of this oil spill.

SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI: I’m concerned because I feel and I believe, and my reading verifies, that we don’t know enough about the impact of dispersants and dispersed oil on people, marine life and water quality. I’m very concerned.

And my question is, should we ban them?
Should we take a time out from using them?
What are the short- and long-term consequences of using them?
I don’t want dispersants to be the Agent Orange of this oil spill. And I want to be assured, in behalf of the American people, that this is OK to use and OK to use in the amounts that we’re talking about

.AMY GOODMAN: Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski. While concerns over the impact of chemical dispersants continue to grow, Gulf Coast residents are outraged by a recent announcement that the $20 billion government-administered claim fund will subtract money cleanup workers earn by working for the cleanup effort from any future claims.

Fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg says the ruling will apply to anyone who participates in the Vessels of Opportunity program, which has employed hundreds of Gulf Coast residents left out of work because of the spill. It’s seen as an effort to limit the number of lawsuits against BP.We’re joined now by two guests on these two issues, on Corexit and the workers.

Independent journalist Dahr Jamail is joining us from Tampa, Florida. He’s been reporting from the Gulf Coast for three weeks.His latest article
at Truthout is called “BP’s Scheme to Swindle the ‘Small People.’” And from Washington, DC, we’re joined by Hugh Kaufman, a senior policy analyst at the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. He’s been a leading critic of the decision to use Corexit. Let’s begin with Hugh Kaufman.

First of all, explain what Corexit is, the company that makes it, what’s in it, and your concerns.
<blockquote>
HUGH KAUFMAN: Well, Corexit is one of a number of dispersants, that are toxic, that are used to atomize the oil and force it down the water column so that it’s invisible to the eye. In this case, these dispersants were used in massive quantities, almost two million gallons so far, to hide the magnitude of the spill and save BP money.

And the government—both EPA, NOAA, etc.—have been sock puppets for BP in this cover-up. Now, by hiding the amount of spill, BP is saving hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in fines, and so, from day one, there was tremendous economic incentive to use these dispersants to hide the magnitude of the gusher that’s been going on for almost three months.

Congressman Markey and Nadler, as well as Senator Mikulski, have been heroes in this respect. Congressman Markey made the BP and government put a camera down there to show the public the gusher. And when they did that, experts saw that the amount of material, oil being released, is orders of magnitudes greater than what BP and NOAA and EPA were saying. And the cover-up started to evaporate.

But the use of dispersants has not. Consequently, we have people, wildlife—we have dolphins that are hemorrhaging. People who work near it are hemorrhaging internally. And that’s what dispersants are supposedto do.

EPA now is taking the position that they really don’t know how dangerous it is, even though if you read the label, it tells you how dangerous it is. And ,for example, in the Exxon Valdez case, people who worked with dispersants, most of them are dead now. The average death ge is around fifty. It’s very dangerous, and it’s an economic—it’s an economic protector of BP, not an environmental protector of the public.

Now, the one thing that I did want to mention to you, Amy, that’s occurred in most investigations, back even in the Watergate days, people said, “follow the money.”

And that’s correct. In this case, you’ve got to follow the money. Who saves money by using these toxic dispersants? Well, it’s BP. But then the next question—I’ve only seen one article that describes it—who owns BP? And I think when you look and see who owns BP, you find that it’s the majority ownership, a billion shares, is a company called BlackRock that was created, owned and run by a gentleman named Larry Fink.

And Vanity Fair just did recently an article about Mr. Fink and his connections with Mr. Geithner, Mr. Summers and others in the administration. So I think what’s needed, we now know that there’s a cover-up. Dispersants are being used. Congress, at least three Congress folks—Congressman Markey, Congressman Nadler and Senator Mikulski—are on the case.

And I think the media now has to follow the money, just as they did in Watergate, and tell the American people who’s getting money for poisoning the
millions of people in the Gulf.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Hugh Kaufman, who works at the Environmental Protection Agency. This is an issue we’ve brought up before, but it’s an absolutely critical one, the issue of proprietary information of these companies, in particular, the ingredients of Corexit, even though 1.8 million pounds of it have been dumped into the Gulf.

What’s in Corexit?
Do you know?
What is EPA allowed to know, and what is the company allowed to keep private?

HUGH KAUFMAN: EPA has all the information on what’s in—the ingredients are. The largest ingredient in Corexit is oil. But there are other materials. And when the ingredients are mixed with oil, the combination of Corexit or any dispersant and oil is more toxic than the oil itself.

But EPA has all that information. That’s a red herring issue being raised, that we have to somehow know more information. When you look at the label and you look at the toxicity sheets that come with it, the public knows enough to know that it’s very dangerous.

The National Academy of Science has done work on it.
Toxicologists from Exxon that developed it have published on it.
So, we know enough to know that it’s very dangerous, and to say that we just have to know more about it is a red herring issue. We know plenty. It’s
very dangerous. And in fact, Congressman Nadler and Senator Lautenberg are working on legislation to ban it.

AMY GOODMAN: And I should correct myself: 1.8 million gallons, I think it is, of Corexit that’s been dumped. Sharif?
SHARIF ADBEL KOUDDOUS: And Hugh Kaufman—
HUGH KAUFMAN: Tha’s correct, almost two million gallons of—yes, sir.
SHARIF ADBEL KOUDDOUS: So the—
HUGH KAUFMAN: I’m sorry, I’m not—
SHARIF ADBEL KOUDDOUS: No, no, go ahead. The dispersant is—
HUGH KAUFMAN: I’m not hearing you, sir.
SHARIF ADBEL KOUDDOUS: These nearly two million gallons have been dispersed not only on the surface of the water, but also 5,000 feet below the water, as well. Can you talk about that?

HUGH KAUFMAN: Well, not only do you have airplanes flying and dropping them on the Gulf region, like Agent Orange in Vietnam, but a large amount of it is being shot into the water column at 5,000 feet to disperse the oil as it gushers out.

And so, you have spread, according to the Associated Press, over perhaps over 44,000 square miles, an oil and dispersant mix. And what’s happened is, that makes it impossible to skim the oil out of the water. One of the things that happened is they brought this big boat, Whale, in from
Japan to get rid of the oil, and it didn’t work because the majority of the oil is spread throughout the water column over thousands of square
miles in the Gulf. And so—and there’s been a lot of work to show the dispersants, which is true, make it more difficult to clean up the mess
than if you didn’t use them.

The sole purpose in the Gulf for dispersants is to keep a cover-up going for BP to try to hide the volume of oil that has been released and save them hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars of fines. That’s the purpose of using the dispersants, not to protect the public health or environment.
Quite the opposite.

AMY GOODMAN: You’ve made comparisons between Corexit, the use of Corexit and hiding BP’s liability, and what happened at Ground Zero after the attacks of September 11th, Hugh Kaufman.

HUGH KAUFMAN: Yeah, I was one of the people who—well, I did. I did the ombudsman investigation on Ground Zero, where EPA made false statements about the safety of the air, which has since, of course, been proven to be false.

Consequently, you have the heroes, the workers there, a large percentage of them are sick right now, not even ten years later, and most of them will die early because of respitory problems, cancer, etc., because of EPA’s false statements.And you’ve got the same thing going on in the Gulf, EPA
administrators saying the same thing, that the air is safe and the wateris safe.

And the administrator misled Senator Mikulski on that issue in the hearings you talked about. And basically, the problem is dispersants mixed with oil and air pollution. EPA, like in 9/11—I did that investigation nine years ago—was not doing adequate and proper testing. Same thing with OSHA with the workers, they’re using mostly BP’s contractor. And BP’s contractor for doing air testing is the company that’s used by companies to prove they don’t have a problem.

If you remember the wallboard pollution problem from China, the wallboard from China, this company does that environmental monitoring. It’s a
massive cover-up. And so far, luckily, we have two members of Congress and one member of the Senate on the case. Hopefully more will join in.

SHARIF ADBEL KOUDDOUS: Let’s go to a clip that’s been circulating on the internet. It’s from an investigation from WKRG News 5 into the toxicity levels of water and sand on public beaches around Mobile, Alabamba.

One of the water samples collected near a boom at Dauphin Island Marina just exploded when mixed with an organic solvent separating the oil from the water.

This is Bob Naman, the chemist who analyzed the sample, explaining why it might have exploded
BOB NAMAN: We think that it most likely happened due to the presence of either methanol or methane gas or the presence of the dispersant Corexit.

SHARIF ADBEL KOUDDOUS: Hugh Kaufman, can you talk about this video clip?

HUGH KAUFMAN: Well, yes. I saw that when it first came out, I think on Sunday. And what they documented was that the
water—you know, when you’re on the sand with your children and they dig, and there’s a little water?—they documented there was over 200
parts per million of oil waste in the water, and it’s not noticeable to the human eye, that the children were playing with on the beach.

On top of it, the contamination in one of the samples was so high that when they put the solvent in, as a first step in identifying how much oil may be in the water, the thing blew up, just as he said, probably because there was too much Corexit in that particular sample.

But what’s funny about that is, on Thursday, the administrator of EPA, in answering Senator Mikulski’s question at the hearing that you played the clip on, said that EPA has tested the water up to three miles out and onshore and found that it’s safe. And then, a few days later, the television station in Pensacola and in Mobile document with their own limited testing that that statement was false, misleading and/or inaccurate by the administrator, under oath, to Senator Mikulski in that hearing.

SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: We want to also bring in Dahr Jamail. He’s an independent journalist who’s been reporting from the
Gulf Coast for the past three weeks.

Dahr, you’re joining us from Tampa, Florida, right now. You just drove along the Gulf Coast. But talk about this dispersant, as well. You
wrote in article about the effect it had on you personally.

DAHR JAMAIL: Right. About a week and a half ago, my partner and I were down in Barataria talking with shrimpers and fishermen and people affected by the oil disaster. And literally within minutes of driving down there, the air was so chemically laden, you could smell and taste chemicals in the air.

And immediately, our eyes began to burn. And everyone that we were talking with there, Tracy Kuhns with the shrimpers’ union, Clint Guidry on the board of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, and their spouses and everyone else that we spoke with down there, everyone was complaining of different kinds of health problems—headaches, which, actually, again, within minutes, I personally was starting to experience that; shortness of breath; nausea—all kinds of different symptoms, which I then went home and started to educate myself on the immediate and then longer-term effects of the two Corexit dispersants being used and realized that myself and everyone that we spoke with down there were basically having onset of these symptoms, and people were suffering from it very much.

And another very disturbing thing that I saw down there was I met a charter fisherman named Gene Hickman, who showed me a video he had taken two days prior to my arrival there. He was outside of his house at night, and he had a video of, literally, crabs crawling out of the water at night onto his bulkhead to escape the water.

And Tracy Kuhns, who I was also speaking with, said, “Look, we’ve been watching regularly these huge plumes of dispersant under the surface of the water coming into our canals, sometimes bubbling up to the surface. We’ve seen marine life fleeing from these.” And there have been some reports of this happening throughout the Gulf.

But then, I went down to Gene Hickman’s house and then saw, just minutes after watching this video of crabs literally crawling out of the water trying to escape from the water, to see basically crabs floating belly up in the water, dead, all in his canal. There was sheen over the top of it, dead fish. And
again, the stench of the chemicals was so intense that our eyes were watering.

AMY GOODMAN: Dahr Jamail, your piece in Truthout is called “BP’s Scheme to Swindle the ‘Small People.’” What is that scheme?

DAHR JAMAIL: Right. Well, the scheme is—let’s be really clear, Amy. We all know that context for news reporting is key. And Kenneth Feinberg, who is the Obama-appointed individual in charge of this $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the BP oil disaster, who is he being paid by? He is being paid by BP to do this job.

When he was asked recently, just in the last forty-eight hours, how much he’s being paid, he said, “That’s between me and British
Petroleum.”

So let’s be—let’s start right there. And then, to move forward, this story came up because I was talking with Clint Guidry, who I just mentioned, and he was, like all the other fishermen, outraged by how this fund is being handled. And how it’s being handled is that these people who join this so-called Vessels of Opportunity program, which are basically fishermen who are now completely put out of work, the shrimping and the fishing industry in
Louisiana—and this is spreading across the coast along with the oil, as it travels across the coast—is completely shut down, so these people
are forced in to do this work, going out skimming, putting out oil boom, other types of recovery efforts for BP, because it’s literally the only way they can make a living now.

And so, Feinberg then recently announces, last Friday, as you reported, that, “No, actually now all the money that you’re earning, you folks in the Vessels for Opportunity program, any future compensation claims that you make, this money will be deducted from that claim.”And so, upon further investigation, it turns out there’s a lawyer in Louisiana named Stephen Herman, and his firm, back on May 2nd, had an email correspondence with a law firm representing BP. And he questionedthis very thing, because it had first come up way back at the beginning of this disaster when people were going and looking into joining the Vessels for Opportunity program, but before they could join,they were going to be asked to sign a waiver.

Well, this was of course then brought—Stephen Herman brought this to the attention of the BP lawyer, questioned it, challenged it. And then the BP lawyer wrote back and said, “That is not going to happen. We’re going to tear up those claims. We’re not going to do that.”

Stephen Herman also questioned BP’s lawyer as to this very thing that we just saw Feinberg do, which was, “I want to make very clear,” said Herman, “that any of this work, any of the payment for the work these folks do, will not later be taken out of claims that they may make for future compensation for loss of livelihood, etc.” And he was told at that time in a response on May 3rd by BP’s lawyer, “Absolutely, that will not happen. That is BP’s stated position.”

And so, then we have Feinberg come out Monday, and every day since then, acting as basically a BP salesman trying to push this new agenda that you have to file your claim within a year, and then, once you do that, you’ll get paid, and you will not file any further claims. And then, of course, any work that you’ve done in this Vessels for Opportunity program, any of that money will be deducted from any future claims.

So this directly contradicts what BP said to Stephen Herman’s law firm in New Orleans back on May 3rd. And again, we have Kenneth Feinberg running around, clearly accountable to BP, clearly working in the interests of BP, and as he’s being accused by Clint Guidry and basically fishermen up and down the Gulf Coast at this point in the Vessels for Opportunity program, is that this a guy who’s doing nothing but working to try to limit BP’s
long-term liability for this disaster.

AMY GOODMAN: Dahr Jamail, we want to thank you very much for being with us, independent journalist. His latest piece in Truthout is called “BP’s Scheme to Swindle the ‘Small People.’”
Special thanks to WEDU, PBS in Tampa. Florida, where he is speaking to us from.
And Hugh Kaufman, senior policy analyst at the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, for joining us from Washington, DC.

Of course, we will continue to cover the fallout of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico.</blockquote>
You can watch the entire original interview which is almost 45 minutes long at the original story here.

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/

Consensus Statement
Scientists oppose the use of dispersants in the Gulf
16/07/2010

We oppose the use of chemical dispersants in the Gulf , and urgently recommend an immediate halt to their application .
We believe that Corexit dispersants, in combination with crude oil , pose grave health risks to marine life and human health,
and threaten to deplete niches in the Gulf food web that may never recover .

We urge federal and state agencies to fund independant research NOW to produce transparent timely information that will protect
the health of Gulf response workers, residents, and wildlife.

Full pdf available here : https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bxr_oVtmt7xvYTI2YTI1OTMtOGUxYS00OTliLWFlNDUtNjE1NDZlNzI3OTg1&hl=en

Love Always
mudra

Bonnie Drops Toxic BP Rain - More Plants Dying
By Juliyanna
7-24-10

http://www.rense.com/general91/bonnide.htm

Early this morning here in the Florida Keys we got some rain from tropical storm Bonnie that passed just a little North of Key Largo Florida, it was not a real heavy rain just short and light.

The pictures below are of my Jasmine plant and the way it became about 2 hours or so after the rain from the tropical storm.

This plant was a healthy young plant that I have been taking good care of now for the last year and a half from when it was a small baby about 18 inches feet tall. With good care, this beautiful plant has grown to the height now of about 5 ft 8 inches tall. I have been waiting patiently for this plant to bloom with its beautiful fragrant flowers and about 2 weeks ago here was the bloom I had been waiting for. Beautiful red Jasmine...

After the rain today, these are the results from the rain on its leaves. Some leaves just crumbled and fell off on the ground. One that you will see on the tree has a huge burned brown spot and then there is this white stuff on the other leaves as well.
The other trees in my yard do not have this, so it appears the more exotic tender plants get damaged much easier.

The rain from tropical storm Bonnie was water the storm absorbed in the Caribbean sea as she came through that area as well as a short trip across the Atlantic on the Florida Straits side across where the Gulf stream flows. So, if this is what is causing tender plants to burn and die in the Florida keys from the rain water coming from those areas of the ocean then...this clearly demonstrates that all these areas must now be contaminated with the toxic chemicals, oil and whatever else is flowing out through the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf stream and now into the Atlantic & Carribean Sea.

read more and see photos at the link : http://www.rense.com/general91/bonnide.htm

Love Always
mudra

This is the video in which the Republican Party opposes an investigation of the BP Oil Spill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOAKBjYNHW0

I think it was Linda Baker who wanted to know who the Republican Senator is.
The Senator opposing it is Republican Jim DeMint of SC.

spiritwarrior wrote:

the lack so little information coming from the locals, clinics, doctors, hospitals is worrying.

I though a blog would have been set up by the local people involved and the impact on the daily lives ect., would have surfaced by now.

must of the reports and articles are about the oil itself but very little on the impact of people, doesn't anyone feel this is strange, I'm beginning to think the reports are a distraction technique away from the destruction of the human impact?

I have been feeling the same . We have little infos about the effect of the toxic cocktail that's brewing in the gulf on workers, locals as well as the ocean and it's life .These reports are scattered here and there and often come from people's blog. This is puzzling.

Yesterday what came to mind is that the Gulf of mexico's disaster and careless handling thereof is not that far from " chemical warfare " .
We read more than once in the various reports that BP's massive use of dispersants leads to an unprecedented " experiment "in the Gulf of Mexico with dire immediate consequences and others, longed term based, that we can't even predict .

Chemical warfare does not depend upon explosive force to achieve an objective. Rather it depends upon the unique properties of the chemical agent weaponized. A lethal agent is designed to injure or incapacitate the enemy, or deny unhindered use of a particular area of terrain. Defoliants are used to quickly kill vegetation and deny its use for cover and concealment. It can also be used against agriculture and livestock to promote hunger and starvation.

Love Always
mudra

This goes back to june but contains testimonies from locals which is always interesting as a source and also many links to various other reports.

Would be great if you guys started to pay scrutinized attention to the datas you can collect re the health issues in and around the Golf .

As SpiritWarrior I believe these are important infos .

Do you think it would be relevant to file these issues in a separate thread " Oil spill follow up of health issues "?
I wish one could have sections to navigate within a thread.That would be helpull in a thread like this one to organize it and make it easier to get a better picture of the whole problem .

The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Is Making A Lot Of People Really Sick
The American Dream
Wed, 16 Jun 2010

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/210629-The-Gulf-Of-Mexico-Oil-Spill-Is-Making-A-Lot-Of-People-Really-Sick

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is already the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, but what most people don't know is that it is rapidly turning into a public health disaster of frightening proportions. Reports are scattered and mostly anecdotal at this point (as BP and the U.S. government try to keep a lid on information getting out), but it is becoming increasingly clear that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and/or the chemical dispersants being used are making a lot of people sick. So far most of the reports have been about breathing difficulties, vomiting and various flu-like symptoms. But it is the health effects that will take a long time to show up that are the most concerning. For example, this oil spill has released massive amounts of benzene into the Gulf. Benzene actually enters human cells and damages DNA material. In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services tells us that exposure to benzene has been proven to cause leukemia. So are we about to see a massive wave of cancer sweep the Gulf coast?

At this point nobody knows. What is becoming clear is that a whole lot of people are becoming ill.

Several days ago, the state of Louisiana announced that71 cases of oil spill-related illnesses had been reported to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals up to that point. A significant number of those had not even been involved in any of the clean up efforts.

But the cases of illness are most prominent among those involved in cleaning up the oil spill. CBS news has reported that more than 75 oilspill disaster workers have already been treated for mysterious symptoms.

more at the link

Love ALways
mudra

In Gulf oil disaster, cameras can't capture the human toll
By Jessica Ravitz, CNN
July 26, 2010

Read full article here plus watch video :

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/26/mental.health.gulf/index.html#fbid=6ewmFVCXWL9

Along the Gulf of Mexico (CNN) -- The family business has closed, and the couple can't work -- for themselves or for BP, it seems. Their neighbors and community leaders, she says, are showing a kind of greed she's never seen before. They aren't the people she thought they were.
"Everyone's out for themselves," says the woman, who like many in her small Alabama town has a lot to say but won't say it except anonymously. "I was telling my husband the other night that I'll be glad when the Lord calls me home. I'll be glad to leave this place."
For a moment, forget about saving wildlife. Think not about the oil, the well, the sullied waters. Put aside any blame of corporations or government and dismiss projections about what will happen to the economy or the environment. Plenty of experts, officials with impressive titles and everyday people in the Gulf Coast and around the country are losing sleep over these matters.
Think instead of another tragedy-in-the-making, fallout from the oil disaster that can't be seen by cameras and is not easily measured by scientists with fancy equipment.
It's the sort of effect that may not be felt or discussed openly until long after the boom and skimmers disappear and the media trucks pull away. It is the emotional and social toll on individuals, the price families may pay and how communities are bound to suffer if residents don't take care of each other.
From the front steps of his home in Orange Beach, Alabama, no more than 400 yards from the Gulf of Mexico, J. Steven Picou peers into the future.
The environmental sociologist has spent decades studying the human impact of manmade or technological disasters. For 21 years, he's tracked the residents of Cordova, Alaska, whose community was deeply wounded by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. And while every disaster and every community is different, he can't ignore the signs of what's to come.
"It's like the table is set," he says. "And now we're going to be served with this 15- to 20-year-course meal of problems."
Among the woes to be dished out: depression, marital problems, family violence, crime, substance abuse and suicides.
Those personal and social ills rise when disasters of this kind rock communities, according to extensive studies conducted by Picou, a professor at the University of South Alabama, and colleagues like him.
The good news, he and others say, is that the Gulf Coast -- no stranger to disaster -- has shown resilience before. Time and again, residents here have banded together to rebuild. Many of the resources and organizations mobilized to help after hurricanes are already in place.
But this time around, the disaster is different, and it comes when the wounds of Hurricane Katrina remain fresh. It was avoidable, not a machination of Mother Nature.
Blame can be heaped on thick, passed around and debated. There's no end in sight, no guarantees that life will return to what it was. And the questions of what's to come loom, like anvils.

read full in depth report here : http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/26/mental.health.gulf/index.html#fbid=6ewmFVCXWL9

Love Always
mudra

Gulf residents report anxiety, sleeplessness
23rd july 2010

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/23/gulf-residents-report-anxiety-sleeplessness/

Nearly 60 percent of coastal Louisiana residents in a phone survey indicated that they were constantly worried about the Gulf Coast oil disaster.

More than eight out of 10 respondents reported worrying about their family, friends and community's survival to the complications caused by the environmental disaster, according to sociology researchers from Louisiana State University.

Last week, BP placed a cap over the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico to stop the flow that began April 20.

No oil leaking as BP conducts critical pressure tests in Gulf oil well

The survey of 900 residents started on June 17 for over two weeks. Here are some of their findings:

Because of their worry over the oil spill:
• 46 percent said it prevented them from getting a good night’s sleep
• 43 percent said it prevented from being able to focus on their usual job or work
• 40 percent felt sick to their stomach "some of the time" or ‘almost constantly’
• 38 percent experienced headaches or migraines ‘some of the time’ or "almost constantly"
• 34 percent experienced aches and pains ‘some of the time’ or "almost constantly"

“The early indications are that the human health impacts of this event are real and substantial,” wrote the authors, Matthew Lee and Troy Blanchard, sociology professors at LSU. “Negative affective states, physiological symptoms, and disruptions to daily routines are evident, and are generally widespread. The findings suggest that significant public health resources may be needed to mitigate the pernicious consequences of this disaster for coastal Louisiana residents.”

Love Always
mudra

Gulf oil spill health UPDATE: Hundreds of people get sick after swimming in Gulf
Maryann Tobin
July 4

read article here and check the links : http://www.examiner.com/x-33986-Political-Spin-Examiner~y2010m7d4-Gulf-oil-spill-health-UPDATE-Hundreds-of-people-get-sick-after-swimming-in-Gulf

Also two videos included :
1) Has BP stone wall health efforts for the sick ?
2)Is BP trying to sink oil ? Strong allegations from an executive who will testify before a Senate panel that BP is sinking oil .

Despite claims by BP executive Doug Suttles to CNN that Corexit is just about as toxic as ‘dish soap,’ scientific data says otherwise. And so do the 400 people who got sick after swimming at Florida beaches.
The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that “Santa Rosa Island officials flew the double-red flag – no swimming – over Pensacola Beach after a swath of thick oil washed ashore from the Gulf oil spill on June 23. “ Health officials have now documented complaints of sickness from about 400 people who went swimming in the Gulf near Pensacola Beach.
Toxic affects on people many take days, months or years. Scientists have stated that more scientific data is needed to confirm precise, toxic cause and effect correlations on human an animal health in this massive never-before experienced disaster.
Recent testing has indicated dissolved chemicals in the water near Pensacola Beach. Biologist Dick Snyder from the University of West Florida said, "There are molecules dissolved in the water and you can't see them," and, "We don't know how much of that there is, but we suspect there's a lot."

EPA official Charlie Fitzsimmons told the Pensacola News-Journal on June 25, "My recommendation to the Santa Rosa Island Authority was to keep the beach closed until we can get a better handle on the actual material out here and to get more of it up."

Last month, the US Coast Guard confirmed that two clean up workers had died. Details about their deaths has not been released.

BP CEO Tony Hayward told CNN that the sickness of clean up workers may be due to “food poisoning,” despite suggestions by medical experts that the symptoms of food poisoning are very different from the findings in exposure to toxic chemicals.
The European Times Union cites a study done by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources on the toxic affects of Corexit, the chemical dispersant BP has been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico to dissolve surface oil. According to the report, Corexit is four times more toxic than oil.
In May, the EPA ordered BP to stop using Corexit. That order was refused by BP executives.


Love Always
mudra

Dispersant and oil effects on health

http://www.examiner.com/x-33986-Political-Spin-Examiner~y2010m6d23-US-Coast-Guard-confirms-Two-Gulf-oil-spill-clean-up-workers-have-died



Love Always
mudra

People Getting Sick GULF OIL SYNDROME

Dr Manny Alvarez gives a full report on cases of Gulf Oil Syndrome for WJMC.org (West Jefferson Medical Center) in Louisiana State, USA.

Investigating ‘Gulf Oil Syndrome’ at the Source
by Dr. Manny Alvarez
June 23rd, 2010

http://health.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/23/investigating-gulf-oil-syndrome-at-the-source/

Dr. Manny Alvarez is the Managing Editor of foxnewshealth.com.

I would like to commend the people of Louisiana and Gulf Coast states for their resiliency, and the medical professionals who are dealing with the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The commitment of the communities to clean up this disaster, as well as the attention that is being paid by the health care professionals in the affected areas clearly demonstrates how people can come together for a common goal in times of extreme distress.

I had the opportunity to visit West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, La. last week with some of my producers and a crew from Fox. We had full access to some of the emergency services at the hospital, and I was very pleased to see the advanced technical approach and the systems they have in place for helping workers and first responders deal with the health effects of working with toxins.
As we traveled down to Grand Isle, I could see the impact in some of the communities where you would expect to see summer beach houses full of enthusiastic beachgoers, many of them looked vacant. In the quaint fishing towns we drove through, fishing boats sat idle, tied to the docks where they’ll remain for the summer while the oil continues to foul the once pristine waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

more at the link

Love Always
mudra

Health risks in cleaning up oil spills are still a mystery
By KYLE HOPKINS

Published: June 30th, 2010 1
Last Modified: July 15th, 2010

http://www.adn.com/2010/06/29/1347165/some-costs-of-cleaning-up-an-oil.html

You'd think that more than 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, scientists would know what, if any, long-term health dangers face the thousands of workers needed to clean up the Gulf of Mexico spill.

You'd be wrong.

"We don't know a damn thing," said Anchorage lawyer Michael Schneider, whose firm talked with dozens of Alaska cleanup workers after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in preparation for a class-action lawsuit that never came.

In New Orleans last week, U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin delivered a similar, more subtle message. Her audience: a gathering of health experts meeting to talk about how to protect people after the massive spill that is gushing as much as 60,000 barrels a day into the Gulf of Mexico.

"Current scientific literature is inconclusive with regard to the potential hazards resulting from the spill," Benjamin said. "Some scientists predict little or no toxic effect ... on humans or from exposure from oil or the dispersants, while other scientists express serious concerns about the potential short-term and long-term impacts the exposure to oil and dispersants could have on the health of responders and our communities."

That lack of published, peer-reviewed study has made protecting the growing number of workers in the Gulf of Mexico all the more difficult and has Alaska watchdogs warning that BP and government regulators are repeating mistakes that made people sick a generation ago.

"We don't have the good answers that we could have had from the Exxon Valdez to either know that there are problems or to reassure people that there were not," said Mark Catlin, an industrial hygienist who visited the cleanup in 1989 and says some Gulf workers aren't receiving enough training to protect themselves.

He was part of a Laborers International Union team of specialists who warned the state that spill workers could face lingering kidney and nervous system damage from prolonged exposure to oil.

ADVERTISEMENT

The report, prepared at the invitation of the state Labor Department, called for long-term monitoring of worker health. Three of the contributors say it appears no one ever published a formal follow-up study.

The potential reasons range from the cost and complexity of such a review, to the paralyzing effect of subsequent court battles, to a lack of corporate or political will. Exxon didn't reveal internal medical reports that showed thousands of clinical visits for upper respiratory illnesses the summer of the spill, and government regulators didn't subpoena them.

In the years since, Alaska workers have reported ailments ranging from flu-like symptoms to chemical sensitivity to neurological damage.

Exxon has consistently maintained that there's no evidence spill workers experienced any adverse health effects as a result of the cleanup. Crowded living conditions were blamed for workers' flu-like symptoms -- the "Valdez crud" -- at the time.

Spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman said she isn't aware of any long-term study the company conducted on its own. "The challenge is largely due to the fact that cleanup workers tended to be transient, temporary workers, which made any medical follow-up difficult," she said.

Catlin said many of the workers could have been tracked through their unions. Seldovia resident Sandee Elvsaas, who worked for cleanup contractor Veco Corp., said she watched as workers she sent to spray beaches and boats fouled by the Alaska spill returned from seven-day weeks and 12-hour days. They left happy, earning good wages and overtime. They came back sick and aching, she said.

"Terrible rashes and headaches and vomiting. They were nauseated ... These were not the same people I sent out," she said.

She still has names of workers who got sick.

"The people from the village are still here. ... We're here. They just haven't come to ask," Elvsaas said.

Read full in depth article here : http://www.adn.com/2010/06/29/1347165/some-costs-of-cleaning-up-an-oil.html#ixzz0unumYg3o

Love Always
mudra

*

a cartoon i came across for the humour thread

Bobbie .. I just saw you are online .
Great to see you my friend .
You 'll see we have been busy here on your thread .
You have been in my thoughts.
Hope you are well .



Much Love
mudra

BP Oil Spill: Is it time for the Pentagon to take over?

The BP oil spill relief effort lacks a clear
command-and-control structure, senators said at a hearing Friday. Some
suggest that greater Pentagon involvement would help.

Should the Department of Defense take command of the response to the BP oil spill?Some federal lawmakers and local officials are continuing to push
such a move to help overcome what they see as a tangled and ineffective
spill cleanup command-and-control structure.At a Senate hearing
on Friday, Sen. Ben Nelson (D) of Florida expressed frustration with the
state of the Gulf response task force, saying that in one 90-minute
period last week, officials gave him three different estimates of the
number of ships deployed off the Florida coast to block drifting oil
patches. IN PICTURES: The Gulf oil spill's impact on nature“The
finest command-and-control capability in the world is the United States
military,” said Sen. Bill Nelson (D) of Florida on Friday at a Senate
hearing on the effects of the oil spill. “You have got to have somebody
with a clear chain of command in charge.”............http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0610/BP-Oil-Spill-Is-it-time-for-the-Pentagon-to-take-over

dangerous man this sen Nelson.

Thanks Mudra,

I have not been well for the past 3.5 months or so. Nothing life threatening - just life's ailments and have been concentrating on getting better....am about 85% there now so thought I would check back in to find out the latest. Thank you for your thoughts - I know that your sending the love has made me feel better.

Look what just the projection of love can do to our blood molecules. This is an experiment done by friends. They isolated one of the friends in another room and just simply carried on with their visit - they took a blood sample 3 times and no change in the blood - then the friends focused love towards the isolated friend in the other room and then took another sample - the change is amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy5A0XhMKYs&feature=player_embedded

Love,
Bobbie

mudra wrote:Bobbie .. I just saw you are online .
Great to see you my friend .
You 'll see we have been busy here on your thread .
You have been in my thoughts.
Hope you are well .



Much Love
mudra

I dont know who you are but its good to see you back. Best wishes for the other 15% to go

Bobbie wrote:Thanks Mudra,

I have not been well for the past 3.5 months or so. Nothing life threatening - just life's ailments and have been concentrating on getting better....am about 85% there now so thought I would check back in to find out the latest. Thank you for your thoughts - I know that your sending the love has made me feel better.

I am sorry to hear you have not been well my friend.
It's good to see you though .
Take another love boost from me .
I have no doubt love is a healer.
All the hope we have lays in our inner resources .
Come and visit again .
May you soon be completely well .
We love you Bobbie .

Love from me
mudra

I don't know if this information was posted before on this thread . It is about the Gulf Stream . Apparently the loop is broken . This is very very bad , because Europe if this is true , could be facing Canadian weather for some time .

Gulf of Mexico Loop current Broken !! Risk of Global Climate change .

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/212458-Gulf-of-Mexico-Loop-Current-Broken-Risk-of-Global-Climate-Change-By-BP-Oil-Spill-

[quote="mudra"]

Do you think it would be relevant to file these issues in a separate thread " Oil spill follow up of health issues "?
I wish one could have sections to navigate within a thread.That would be helpull in a thread like this one to organize it and make it easier to get a better picture of the whole problem . ]

mundra, i think thats a good idea, maybe a sub forum? but can that be done here on the news forum?

well done, you've been really busy on the health reports to-day, that can't have easy as their hard to find.

thank you so much.

The testimonies in the report from The American Dream [ Post n°256], great piece of reporting, at least some information from the locals themselves.

I read during the week that BP were docking workers wages out of their claim. CAN YOU BELIEVE THESE PEOPLE?

my daughter says that there are a lot of sites by the locals on facebook, are you a member?

In Gulf oil disaster, cameras can't capture the human toll [Post n°257], it was one of the best, down to earth reports i've read on the toll it's having on human beings.

and it broke my heart. i cried my eyes out.

the video is excellant

Post n°258"Because of their worry over the oil spill:


• 46 percent said it prevented them from getting a good night’s sleep
• 43 percent said it prevented from being able to focus on their usual job or work
• 40 percent felt sick to their stomach "some of the time" or ‘almost constantly’
• 38 percent experienced headaches or migraines ‘some of the time’ or "almost constantly"
• 34 percent experienced aches and pains ‘some of the time’ or "almost constantly""

theses are some very serious statistics. and imo, more than likely an understatement.

thank you mundra for all your hard work

blessings on you and yours

spiritwarrior

hi bobbie,

i don't know you either but sending you lots of love and healing.
that blood experiment should be implemented in all hospitals. [ though would proberbly charge an extra arm and leg for it




blessings to you and yours

spiritwarrior

this was my concern from the beginning of this oil disaster!Because as an european I know very well that the Gulfstream bings us in europe the warm weather; without the gulfstream it is quite possibile that we are facing an iceage. The ice will reach till Frankfurth as it was at the time when the neandertales were living . We have to hope for the best. Sabina